Words Between Us
by Mikaila Railyn Avery
Summary: "Momma, who are all those from?". While going through their basement, Alex and her 7 year old daughter Emory stumble upon an old box of letters from Alex's senior year of Highschool, and Alex tells her daughter the story behind them. Reposted and hopefully a lot better than before haha
1. Prologue

*Alex's P.O.V*

"Momma, I'm bored!"

I looked up from my book and saw my 7 year old daughter's pouty face looking at me, the look on her face practically begging for me to find her something to do. It was a Friday morning and at the moment it was just me and Emory home. Emory's school had "Family Friday's" every second Friday(though really how could that work out when only the kids got the day off and not the parent's as well?) and my wife had just left for work an hour or so earlier, leaving Emory and I with the whole day to spend with each other.

"Did Ms. Evans give you guys any homework to do?" I asked her. I knew homework would be the last thing she would want to do but it was the easiest suggestion I could give.

"Not really, just a book for home reading." She replied.

"Well how about you grab it and you can read to me?" I offered. Emory always loved reading to people and telling them stories she made up so she didn't hesitate to run and grab her book from her backpack. Since she was an extremely good reader, Emory was taking out bigger books from the library instead of the smaller ones most of the other kids took home for their home reading. After about twenty minutes Emory had finished reading her book to me and yet again she was bored.

"Well mommy asked if we could try and clean up the basement a bit today, want to help me with that?" I offered. Man, first offering homework then cleaning as a way to pass time, coolest mom of the year award or what?

"Cleaning's boring though." Emory groaned.

"But at least it's something to do." I pointed out.

"Come on, maybe we'll find some cool stuff while we're cleaning."

Giving in, Emory followed me down to the basement and we started pulling down some boxes and getting to work. Since the boxes were too heavy for Emory to lift I put the boxes in front of her and let her rip off the tape and open the boxes, then we'd both get to look through them. I have to say some of the stuff we found was pretty cool. I found a whole bunch of old stuff I had in my room from when I still lived with my parents (like my box of Justin's important stuff that I had taken from him never gave back even after both of us had moved out) and a box filled with all of Emory's clothes from when she was a baby, along with some of her toys too. I went to grab another box that was fairly high up when I heard something hit the floor, and Emory shriek in surprise as she jumped out of the way of whatever fell to the floor.

"That almost hit me!" Emory exclaimed.

"Sorry, baby." I apologized.

"I didn't see it there."

I looked down and examined the box. It was an old converse shoe box completely crammed full with old letters and pictures from a little over 10 years ago.

"Momma, who are all these from?" Emory asked, picking up the box and trying to put all the letters that fell out back in before handing me the box.

Honestly, I almost forgot about all those letters. It seemed like so long ago but at the same time I could remember it all as if it was yesterday. It brought me back to senior year of high school, when everything changed and a brunette with the most gorgeous brown eyes, an infectious laugh and even more infectious smile came into my life. It brought me back to the first day I saw her, with her auburn brown hair put into a ponytail and wearing her "The Cure" Band T-shirt under her red plaid button up shirt. From the second I met her she was absolutely captivating.

"Momma, are you okay?" Emory asked. Apparently I had been staring at the box for a bit too long.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied with a smile.

"Em, did I ever tell you the story of how I met mommy?" I asked. Like I knew she would, she shook her head no. I always wanted to tell her the story, but I figured it would be one that would have to wait until she was a bit older, when she could comprehend things a little better. But she was extremely smart for her age so I figured now would be just as good a time as any to tell her the story.

"Well, how about we take a little break and I tell you the story?"

"Okay!" Emory beamed, running up the stairs as fast as her little legs could carry her. I brought the box of letters and pictures with me and I headed into the living room where Emory was patiently waiting on the love seat, practically bouncing in her seat waiting for me to start the story.

"Can Luca listen to the story too?" Emory asked, refering to our Husy/Lab mix puppy we had gotten just a few weeks earlier.

"If you can get him to stay still and listen." I told her. Right away she went and brought Luca over onto the couch and eagerly waited for me to start.

"Okay, so it all started when I was 18….."

**Hey Y'all. So Here's my second attempt at this. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update but I really hope it'll be regularly. I hope this second attempt will be better than the last **


	2. Aren't those for, like…little kids?

**Chapter 1: Aren't those for, like…little kids?**

*Alex P.O.V*

_Beep beep beep beep beep beep_

"Shut uuuppp." I groaned from underneath my pillow. I had been dreading that stupid sound ever since last night when I set it so I wouldn't be late for the first day back at school. Usually I didn't care if I made it on time or not but this school year was different. This school year would be my last year at Tribeca Prep and I wanted to make sure my last first day was one I would remember. After about five minutes I had woken up a bit and finally made my way out of bed. Grabbing my towel and house coat I walked over to the bathroom door but it was shut. I could just faintly hear Max in there singing Fly Me to The Moon by Frank Sinatra to himself on the other side of the door.

"Hurry up, Max!" I groaned as I pounded on the door. I swear sometimes he took longer than I did.

"Just a minute!" he shouted back at me, the annoyance clear in his voice. A few seconds later the door opened and I just shoved Max out the door I best I could with my hands full and shut the door behind me.

"Hey!" I heard him shout at me but honestly I could have cared less. I needed my shower to help me fully wake up. After I was finished I grabbed my blow dryer and straightener from my drawer and headed to my bedroom to quickly do my hair. Thankfully I had my outfit for the day already planned out: my favourite black converse and a pair of skinny jeans with my white tank top that had two birds on the front of it under my brown, orange and yellow plaid button up shirt. I had to admit, I looked cute. I threw my hair into a ponytail and called it good. All three of us were finished getting ready at around the same time so we all headed down to the sub shop together

"Okay, Ham sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mustard and mayo…and 5 dollars in a bag." Mom recited off as she handed us each a lunch bag. Even after 13 years (for me anyways) our lunches never changed.

"Thanks, mom." We both called out as we headed out the door and down the street towards Tribeca Prep. I had to admit it felt a bit odd knowing this would be my last "first day back at school" but it was a good kind of odd. Along our walk we passed Harper's old house and I really started to miss her. Earlier in the summer her dad had gotten an amazing job opportunity in Michigan so they moved not long afterwards. It was hard saying goodbye but we knew we still had skyping and texting so we knew it wasn't like we would never talk again. After the 15 minute walk we finally got to school and I headed off to my first class, English with Ms. Ayers. Out of all my teachers I think Ms. Ayers had to be the coolest. She had just recently turned 30, graduated from university the 2 or 3 years earlier and Mr. Laritate had hired her pretty much on the spot. She was kind of cute too, a lot of people said she looked like Kate Hudson, so that really helped her.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I'm gay?

To most people it wasn't a total shock. I mean, when I was little I would always prefer rough housing with my brothers and my dad over playing with the stupid dolls my mom would try and get me to play with. And when all the other girls started going all boy crazy I had absolutely no idea where they were coming from; they should have just started talking Portuguese and I would have understood them better. When I finally came out to my parents just before junior year started they were actually really cool about it. They told me they had had their suspicions for a little while but wanted me to come to them first, instead of forcing me to say it when I wasn't ready. I was really glad that they chose to leave it to me because if they had tried to force it out of me guaranteed I would have chickened out and would have denied it until I had no choice but to tell them.

Anyways, so I made it to English class and Ms. Ayers was sitting at her desk waiting for everyone to finish piling in.

"Hey Ms. A" I greeted with a smile. Ms. Ayers looked up from her day planner and flashed me a smile back. God, she's cute.

"Hey, Alex. How was your summer?" she asked me.

"It was great. My parents took me and my brothers on a trip down to Florida for a few weeks and we got to check out some of the beaches in Miami." I replied. My parents had decided that we would take one last vacation as a whole family before Justin headed off for college and I started my senior year so after a few suggestions of where to go we all decided on Florida, mainly because a few of my aunts and uncles on my mom's side lived there and we hadn't really gotten to know her side of the family all that well.

"How about you how was your summer?"

She was about to start telling me but the warning bell rang and by then everyone had piled in. I quickly took my seat and let her start the lesson.

"Hello, class. I hope you all had an enjoyable summer and are looking forward to your last year of High school." Ms. Ayers began and of course everyone started cheering at the mention of this being our last year in High school.

"Awesome. So First off I want to tell you about our big project for the year. How many of you have had pen pals before or know what pen pals are?" Ms. Ayers asked us. Most, if not all of us, raised our hands.

"Well this year we are going to be pen pals with another 12th grade class from Denver, Colorado." Ms. Ayers told us.

"Ms. A, aren't those for, like…little kids? Only kids in Elementary school have pen pals." One kid in my class, I think his name was Donnie, pointed out.

"Well I figured since no one writes each other the old fashioned way anymore why not try and bring it back. I remember I had a pen pal back in High School and we actually became best friends. We got to meet just after graduation and we even took a trip together to Maui." Ms. Ayers replied.

"Guys, this could actually be really cool if you decide to let it. Just give it a chance. Now, everyone take out a few sheets of paper and we'll get started."

Everyone grabbed a notebook or binder from their backpacks while Ms. Ayers started writing down topics we could write about in our letters. I sat there with my pen in my mouth for a good few minutes, trying to figure out where to start. How do you start writing a letter to someone when you don't even know who you're writing to? After a bit of thinking I finally started my letter.

_Dear Pen pal,_

_Okay, first off it feels weird not being able to write your name considering I don't know it yet. I've never written a letter to a pen pal before so I apologize in advance if this letter is insanely awkward, I'm kinda new to this._

_My name's Alex, short for Alexandra but I've been going by Alex pretty much since I was born( which I don't _

_mind at all, Alexandra's too girly for me). I live in Waverly, New York with my parents(Jerry and Theresa) and _

_younger brother (Max. I have an older brother named Justin too but he's now in College and moved out not too _

_long ago).We've lived in New York since I was born and I have to say I love it here. The best part of living here has _

_to be the skyline at night, it's absolutely breath taking. At times the huge crowds can get a bit much but after living _

_here for so long, you get used to it. _

_Um…I guess something else you should know about me is that I love music. As far as listening to music goes I love Katy _

_Perry, Paramore(Hayley Williams is my IDOL!),Jason Mraz and Nicki Minaj. I've been writing songs here and there since I _

_was 14 or so and play the guitar a bit, not great but I'm getting better. My best friend Harper used to help me with my _

_songs but since she moved earlier this summer it's just been me, so my song writing's been kind of lacking. Harper was _

_really my only TRUE best friend. I mean, I have other friends in my classes and that but it's not like we would see each _

_other outside of school that much, if at all. It sucks having your best friend being so far away but, hey, maybe you and _

_I could be best friends :) After I graduate I really want to become a fashion designer, I've always loved art and clothing _

_so being a fashion designer seems like it would be the best of both._

_Another thing I should tell you is that I'm gay…I know that's not something you usually tell someone right away but I figure _

_it's better to get it out in the open rather than leaving it and have it be a huge secret. I really hope that you're okay with that _

_because that would suck if you weren't. _

_Okay, I think that's all I can think of to say, if there's anything else you wanna know just ask and I'll be happy to answer :)_

_Hope to hear from you soon_

_Alex_

"If anyone is done please come grab an envelope and put your name on it. I'll be sending the letters off by the end of the day." Ms. Ayers told us placing a box of envelopes on her desk for people to go and grab. I went up and grabbed an envelope and started drawing little doodles on it. My favourite was this little alien dude my mom made up named Hermie, she showed me how to draw him back when I was 10 and I always drew him and colored him in different colors if I was bored. I decided to make him a light blue this time with a red nose and green antenna's. The bell rang to indicate that class was over so I quickly folded my letter and stuffed it in the envelope before handing it to Ms. Ayers.

*Mitchie's P.O.V*

I swear to god this day could _not _be going by any slower.

It's only five minutes to ten and our first class of the day (History) is just about to finish. It honestly feels like we should already be done the day by now but I guess after a whole summer of no school routine your sense of time gets a bit warped. As if that wasn't bad enough, our teacher gives us a 20 page reading assignment to do for homework before sending us on our way to break. As I made my way to my locker I heard someone calling after me and I turned around just in time to see it was one of my old friends, Anna.

"Hey, Devin's having a back to school house party while his parents are out of town for the weekend. You in?" she asked.

"Uh, no thanks. I'll pass." I told her, turning my back away from her hoping that would end the conversation right there.

"Come on, we gotta have our still current shot gunning champ there to defend her title." Anna insisted.

"Even if she's been AWOL for the last 5 months."

"No thanks, I'll pass." I repeated, hoping that Anna would take the hint and would just leave me alone.

"Just for a couple hours, Torres, it'll be fun. Everyone's gunna be there and they all miss seeing you and hanging out with you. "

"No, Anna. I told all of you I quit for a reason and I'm not giving in now." I somewhat snapped. I had given up partying and drinking back in the spring, much to the dismay of all my "friends". Ever since then they've tried getting me back into partying and all that but after what happened the last time I drank there was absolutely no way I would be getting back into that scene any time soon.

"So, can you guys just...back off about it? I'm not going to change my mind just because you miss seeing me make an ass out of myself."

"You're such a lame ass now, Torres." Anna groaned before rolling her eyes and turning the other way. I let her comment roll off my back as I headed into my English class. Thankfully none of my old friends were in that class with me so I was free from them.

"Good morning, class. I trust you all had a wonderful summer." Mr. Thompson began as we all took our seats.

"Now, my first announcement of the class is that this year, we will be part of a pen pal program with a class in Waverly, New York."

"Pen pals? Isn't that stuff for elementary schoolers?" one kid piped up.

"No, not necessarily. I had a pen pal from London when I was in college and we ended up being really good friends." Mr. Thompson told us.

I had to admit even though the idea did seem kind of little kid-ish, it would be nice to have someone new to talk to. After getting out of the party scene I didn't have many people to talk to so it would be a nice change even if the letters were long in between.

"So they'll be writing to us first and sometime in the next week or so the letters should be here and we'll choose our pen pals then. For today I just want you guys to do a quick write up about something you did over the summer. " wow, what a cliché thing to do on the first day back at school.

"So everyone please take out a piece of paper and start writing."

I grabbed my spiral notebook from my backpack and started thinking about what I could write. Really, the only significant thing that happened was my family and I going down to Texas and visiting family for 2 weeks and it really wasn't all that fun. I mean, it was nice seeing most of my family again but really I would have much rather stayed home by myself and my baby (our Shepherd/collie mix dog), Brody. But no, my parents had to drag me along. The whole trip I wanted nothing more than just to be by myself but how often can you actually have that when you're on family vacation, when you're pretty much together 24/7? After a few minutes I just decided to write about my Aunt Katheryn and Uncle Matt's wedding (the whole reason we went to Texas in the first place. My aunt Katheryn asked Me, Dallas and Maddie to be bridesmaids) and that was pretty much it. Everyone handed in their readings and Mr. Thompson handed out the novel we would be reading as a class: The Outsiders. The bell for lunch rang and thank god we were free to go. But of course I got approached from some of my old "friends" asking me to come party with them and through gritted teeth almost I kept telling each of them no. They kept giving me grief about declining their offer but I really didn't care, I could deal with their crap and it wouldn't really do much to me. Way too slowly the end of the day finally came and I rushed out to the bus as fast as I could. I sat down with my neighbour, Kelly, and we started talking while we waited for all the other kids to get on the bus.

"So you think you're going to book some more slots at La Coka?" She asked. Over the summer I did a few gigs at our local coffee place, La Coka, 2 or 3 times a week and quite a few people even requested I perform more often. So in a way I became a regular performer there which was awesome. I had to take the two week break while I was gone in Texas and I sadly hadn't been back since.

"I think I'm going to go in later and talk to Andre and see when I could be squeezed in. With school it'll be harder to balance performing and homework." I replied.

"Hopefully he has spots open that work with school, I miss going there."

After about 20 minutes the bus pulled up to our stop and we said goodbye to our bus driver, Liam, and we said goodbye once we got to our driveways. Right away I noticed that there was no vehicles in the driveway so I assumed that my parents and sister were out. Grabbing my key out of my purse I unlocked the door and right away Brody started barking.

"Brody, relax, it's me." I told him and the second he recognized me he started whining happily and wagging his tail.

"Haha, Hi, baby boy. You miss me?" I cooed and he just jumped up and tried giving me a kiss.

"aah, Brody down!" I exclaimed and he quickly jumped down and followed me into the kitchen, where there was a note sitting on the kitchen table.

**Mitchie,**

**Took Maddie to Aerial class, should be back just after dinner. There is a lasagna ready to be cooked in the fridge. You can eat before us; we don't mind eating it cold.**

**Love you and see you soon**

**Mom and dad.**

I stuffed the note in my pocket and started to preheat the oven so I could start cooking the lasagna. Since our oven took forever to preheat I decided to get a start on some of the reading I had to do. I was partly through the first chapter of History I had to read when I got a text from Devin

**Devin: Heard you're skipping out on my party?**

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, they were being so damn persistent that it was getting past the point of being annoying

**Mitchie: Yeah, I don't HAVE to say yes. Not like I've said yes to the last 5 people who've been harassing me today alone about it.**

**Devin: come on, quit being lame, Mitch. What happened last time was in the past, you've gotta let it go.**

By that point I was almost fuming. I was ready to go off on someone and there was no stopping me once I get to that point

**Mitchie: You really think I can just forget the fact that I got so drunk that night that I couldn't even help my girlfriend, who ended up getting taken advantage of! I was supposed to be the one protecting her and I couldn't even do that!**

I wanted to say more but I figured that would suffice for now and that may shut him up.

**Devin: Geez Mitch, calm down. You don't have to come.**

**Mitchie: NO, I WON'T calm down. She's been traumatized since that night and I lost her as my girlfriend after that. I STILL feel like shit for that and I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself for what happened.**

**Mitchie: So, just please quit trying to get me to come, I'm not going to give in.**

After that I tossed my phone back into my purse and ignored any other texts from Devin, I needed to calm down so I just kept reading my textbook and took notes while I waited for the lasagna that was now in the oven.

**Woah, longest chapter I've written in a really long time! I'm okay with how this chap turned out but I wanna hear how YOU GUYS enjoyed it :).**

**R&R!**


	3. You Had Me At Hayley Williams

**Chapter 2: You Had Me at Hayley Williams**

*Two Weeks Later, Mitchie's P.O.V*

Thankfully after I blew up at Devin they all seemed to leave me alone. I really didn't want to let it get to the point where I had to yell at them but they were being so damn persistent what choice did I have? I wasn't lying when I said I still felt guilty about what had happened to Skylar. Ever since the morning after when I found her in one of the guest rooms at Brent's house ( he was a guy in my class that offered to host the party since his parents were away for the weekend) I couldn't help but get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I passed her in the hallways. Even months later I couldn't get that image out of my head, she looked so lost and scared when I found her in that room, the only thing they left her to cover her up was the bed sheets and she was curled up on the bed just bawling her eyes out. I remember her asking me where I was all night and I felt horrible having to tell her I really didn't know since I was too blacked out to remember. She was furious with me (which I really didn't expect any less) and after leaving the house we got into our biggest fight we ever had in our whole year and a half long relationship. The whole time I just let her get it all out and yell at me, and quite frankly I deserved it. Skylar had been there for me through everything. When we first met back in 9th grade I was having a lot of insecurity issues and she never failed to remind me that I was beautiful, and she would do whatever it took to make my day better. When I started cutting and self-harming, she told me there was no reason to do that to my body, and that I was worth so much more than harming myself. She helped me at my lowest points and where was I when it was my turn to return the favour? Smashed to oblivion and totally oblivious to anything around me.

Needless to say, I felt like shit afterwards.

It wasn't long after that, that we broke up. I could've seen it coming a mile away but in the end I knew I had done something that had ruined our relationship completely and there was no way I would be able to make up for it. Skylar (as I suspected) ended up being the one to call it off and I didn't even try to ask her for forgiveness, because I didn't even forgive myself for what had happened. After that, I swore off any partying from that day on. I was tired of making an ass out of myself and not remembering whatever happened the night before. So far I had made it 6 months without going to any parties or having any type of alcohol and I was extremely proud of myself.

"Mitchie, your bus is here!" I heard my sister, Madison, yell from downstairs.

"Be there in a second." I replied. Thankfully Madison's bus came around after mine so some mornings she would watch for my bus for me if I was running a bit late. I grabbed my text books and purse and ran as best as I could down the stairs(if I wasn't careful most likely I would fall all the way down the stairs, I could be a little clumsy at times.)

"Bye, Mitch!" Madison called out as I rushed out the door and over to the bus. Thankfully the driver saw me coming and waited for me to get there and I made it on the bus just in time. I sat by Kelly as usual and we started talking about my next gig at La Coka, which was scheduled for that night after school. I had to admit I was really excited, it was my first gig back after almost a month and I had written quite a few new songs that I was really looking forward to everyone hearing all the new songs I had written in the last month. With Kelly to talk to the bus ride took no time at all and when we got to school I grabbed my English notebook from my locker and headed to class just down the hall.

"Good morning, class." Mr. Thompson greeted us. Right away most of us took notice of the large envelope he had in his hands.

"Our pen pal letters got here yesterday so first things first we will be choosing our pen pals."

He took all the letters out of the large envelope and held them in his hands like cards.

"Pick a letter, any letter." He told us and of course he earned a few laughs. About 10 people had chosen letters by the time he got to me and I just closed my eyes and reached blindly into the handful of letters. When I opened my eyes I was greeted by the Name "Alex Russo" and a little blue alien-looking guy with a big red nose and green antenna's just over top of the name. I had to admit it was a cute drawing. Underneath him the name "Hermie" was written, I guess that's what its name was. Careful not to wreck the envelope I slowly opened the letter and began reading. From what she wrote Alex seemed like a really cool person. I mean, she DID love Paramore and Hayley Williams so that automatically put her in my cool books. I grabbed one of my notebooks and started writing Alex a reply back.

_Dear, Alex_

_Hi, I'm Mitchie (my name is Michelle actually but I prefer Mitchie), and I'm going to be your pen pal for the year :)_

_I have to say when I read your letter you had me at Hayley Williams haha. Paramore is my favourite band too so I thought that was really_

_Cool that we have that In common. I just wanted to get that out of the way first =P_

_So I guess I'll just start with the basics. I have 2 sisters (an older sister named Dallas and a younger sister named Madison) and my younger_

_Sister, my parents, our dog Brody and I have lived in Colorado for probably the last 7-8 years. We moved from Dallas when I was 10 after_

_My dad got a job offer here that he apparently couldn't refuse. I like it here, but I think one day I'll most likely move back to Texas, it feels_

_more like home to me than Colorado ever will. _

_I'm a huge music junkie too. Since I was about 7 or 8 I've been taking guitar lessons(both with a teacher and teaching myself) and I learned_

_To play the piano by ear back when I was 10. Out of the two of them, I would definitely choose guitar, it makes me feel more like a rock star _

_Haha. I write my own music too and a couple times a week I play at our local coffee shop, La Coka. Which is really fun because everyone _

_Seems to really like my music and I get to practice playing in front of crowds. My goal one day is to perform on stage in front Of a huge sold _

_out crowd somewhere (I'd say Madison Square Garden, but that may be too big of a dream for now)._

_And by the way, don't even think I'm going to judge you because you're gay. It would be silly and horrible of me to do that_

_to you(mostly because I'm bisexual myself). So don't ever be afraid to tell me anything, okay? :)_

_hope to hear from you again soon, Alex._

_-Mitchie_

_P.S, Hermie's cute. You're a pretty good artist :)_

Since I didn't much artistic ability (drawing-wise anyway) I just left the envelope blank besides Alex's name and gave it to Mr. Thompson before I started reading my novel for our independent novel study (I chose to read Thirteen Reasons Why, which so far was AMAZING!) and waited for everyone else to be finished their letters. After our independent novel studies the class talked about where we were in our books and what was happening. Typically I didn't take part in class conversations ( I knew the other people in my class would just completely ignore whatever I said so I never really bothered) so I just listened intently until the bell rang and Mr. Thompson told us we were free to go. During break I pulled out my song book and tried figuring out what songs I wanted to sing that day at La Coka. I had about 11 or 12 new songs and I only had enough time to do some of them, so I had to make a decision on what ones I wanted to sing. There was one song I definitely knew I was going to sing. I wrote it for Skylar later in the summer while I was visiting my family. I had just had enough of feeling so guilty and I needed to get all my feelings out so I wrote a song called "Sorry". Part of me knew she would most likely never hear it (mostly because I hadn't talked to her in almost 2 months) but I felt so much better after I wrote the song and finally had all my feelings out in the open. I had never played it for anyone yet so I was really nervous for people to hear it. My next class (Social Studies) came and went then we had our break for lunch. Typically I sat with Kelly but I guess she had to leave early for something so I just wandered the school by myself and tried writing some new lyrics in my song book but nothing much really came to me. I was sitting in the hallway and in the middle of writing out some lyrics that had come to mind when out of nowhere I heard a laugh I could've recognized from a mile away. There was Skylar just down the hallway walking with one of the new girls at school; I think her name was Cassandra. I would have been able to easily look away and ignore it but when Skylar just happened to look my way and we made eye contact the look in her eyes nearly killed me. Even months later the pain in her eyes was still there. She kept walking and broke the eye contact before turning the corner, and once again I was left feeling like the biggest piece of crap on the planet. Trying my best to shake everything off I got up from the floor and started walking around again, playing some music to bring up my mood a bit. Thankfully the rest of the day went by fairly quickly and I was able to run home and grab my guitar before heading down to La Coka.

"Hey, Mitch. Here so soon?" the barista, Audrina, asked.

"Yeah, Figured I'd come in early and see what was going on." I replied.

"Well you can start early if you'd like. No one's on right now so the stage is open." Audrina told me.

"Okay sure." I smiled and headed over to the small platform set up just by the door.

"Hey, guys. Long time no see." I greeted and a few people clapped in response.

"So it's been a while since I've performed here, so I hope I'm not too rusty." I joked, getting my guitar ready for me to start my first song.

"I wrote a lot of songs while I took my little break, and this next song is definitely one that means a lot to me. This song is probably one of my most personal ones and I wrote it for a person that I feel I let down when they really needed me. For the longest time I couldn't find the words to express how I felt but I think this song does it the best. So this is Sorry."

I started strumming the first few cords and then began to sing, silently praying I'd make it through with minimal tears.

_Broken hearts and last goodbyes  
Restless nights but lullabies  
Help to make this pain go away  
I realize I let you down  
Told you that I'd be around  
Building up the strength just to say_

I'm sorry.  
For breaking all the promises  
That I wasn't around to keep  
It's on me  
This time is the last time I will ever beg you to stay  
But you're already on your way

Filled with sorrow, filled with pain  
Knowing that I am to blame  
For leavin' your heart out in the rain  
And I know you're going to walk away  
Leave me with a price to pay  
Before you go I wanted to say  
Yeah

That I'm sorry  
For breaking all the promises  
That I wasn't around to keep  
It's on me  
This time is the last time I will ever beg you to stay  
But you're already on your way

I can't make it  
Alive on my own  
But if you have to go  
Then please girl, just leave me alone  
Because I don't wanna see, you and me  
Going our separate ways  
I'm begging you to stay  
If it isn't too late.

I'm sorry.  
For breaking all the promises  
That I wasn't around to keep  
It's on me  
This time is the last time I will ever beg you to stay  
But you're already on your way  
But you're already on your way

As I strummed the final chord and everyone applauded I wiped away the stray tears and smiled the best I could. Part of me felt like I should have saved that song for last, but if I didn't do it first I probably wouldn't have sung it at all. After the applause died down I went into my second song, Believe in Me, and for the next hour and a half I just let myself get lost in my music, completely forgetting everything else that was going on in my life for that little bit where it was just me and my music.

**So I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, I'm actually liking this re-write a lot better than the old one so I'm pretty happy lol. Now I have mid-terms coming up so for the next 2-3 weeks there won't be an update :(. It's a bummer but I really gotta concentrate on school before anything else. I wanted to give you guys an update before I completely get consumed by studying and I still have some sanity lol. **


	4. They're Coming to New York!

**Chapter 3: They're Coming to New York?!**

*Late-November, Alex P.O.V*

Ms. Ayers told us last class that she had an announcement to make, but she wanted to wait for us to get our letters from our pen pals to tell us what it was. I admit, I wasn't usually one who got really worked up over surprises, but this one for some reason I was really anxious to find out what it was. Since we had English every second day we had to wait but Ms. Ayers told us by next class (which was today) that our letters would be in and she could tell us the announcement. I was practically speed walking the entire way to school and made it into English class with about 15 minutes to spare (which rarely happens, I'm usually lucky to make it on time). While I was sitting in my desk waiting for the 9:00am bell to ring I was trying to figure out what the surprise might be. But I had to admit, Ms. Ayers had done a pretty good job of keeping it a secret. I caught Ms. Ayers' eye as she walked into class and she was wearing a white button up shirt (the first button undone) with a pair of dark skinny jeans and a pair of plain black flats. After we broke eye contact I still didn't look away until I felt a drop of something hit the top of my hand.

Yep...drool.

I quickly wiped the corner of my mouth with the sleeve of my sweater and looked away from Ms. Sex-on-a-stick...I mean Ms. Ayers.

"Good morning, class. So the letters from your pen pals came in yesterday afternoon and once I give the letters out I'll give you guys get a minute to read them and then I'm going to make the announcement I mentioned last class." Ms. Ayers told us. She opened the large envelope and began passing out the letters to everyone.

"And I think you guys are really going to love it."

I had to say Mitchie and I had really hit it off. Even if we were only able to talk through letters (one of the rules our teachers came up with at the beginning of this whole project), we still managed to find out a lot about each other. It was almost an instant connection between us and we weren't all that worried about telling someone who was practically a stranger some of our secrets (for the lack of a better word). Mitchie even sent me a couple of her songs and I was blown away at how good of a song writer she was. You could feel the emotion behind the song and the lyrics and the words just flowed together beautifully, it was amazing. In my last letter I asked her if she would be willing to send me some recordings of her singing her songs (she mentioned she had done that with a few of her songs and I was curious about seeing if she was just as good of a singer as she was at song writing) so I was hoping that she felt okay sending me a few of her songs, I know some people who write songs are picky about who they let hear them and I wasn't sure if she was like that. Ms. Ayers finally came around to me and handed me Mitchie's letter.

"Thank you." I smiled and Ms. Ayers gave me a smile back.

Calm down, Alex; don't drool on your hand again.

Snapping out of it I concentrated on Mitchie's letter and started reading it. I felt something at the bottom of the envelope so I took it out and saw it was a memory card. I had a feeling that she probably sent me her songs on the memory card but I started reading the letter just to make sure.

_Alex,_

_Hmm...a CD huh? Well since you asked so nicely maybe I'll share a few of my songs with you(you're_

_lucky I'm not one of those people who refuse to share their music with anyone, because if I was you _

_so wouldn't be getting these songs). Obviously I can't fit a CD in the envelope so I'll just put it on a_

_memory card for you so that way it actually fits. I put 9 of my songs on there(I had more but these _

_ones are my favorites) so I hope you like them :). Tell me what you think; I'm always open to a little_

_constructive criticism, especially if I'm going to be a worldwide phenomenon soon haha ;). _

_I'm so looking forward to winter break soon. Even though we won't be writing that whole time :(. _

_But I just need to get away from school for a bit, my friend's had laid off for a bit about wanting me to _

_go partying with them but now they're starting to harass me about it again and it's driving me nuts. So _

_maybe two weeks away from school will help get my mind off it. My parents are taking me and my sisters_

_(and of course Brody) up to this cabin we've been going to since we were little for the whole winter break _

_so I'm pretty excited for that. The cabin's about 2 hours way so I'll be far away from everyone else which_

_will be really nice. Since Dallas doesn't live here with us she's just going to meet us up there once she's_

_finished her last final, which I think is the day after we get there. _

_I wish we were allowed talking outside of letters, that way Christmas break wouldn't seem as long. _

_But at least we can start talking outside of the letters once the school year is over, right? And Mr. Thompson _

_said something about having an announcement once we're finished writing our letters today so maybe he's _

_going to tell us that we can start talking outside letters before the end of the school year. Honestly I don't _

_even get the point of that rule. Like, we're already talking through letters, what's the harm in being able to _

_text or Facebook each other? Not like it would make a...Oh my god Mr. Thomson JUST told us what the_

_surprise was! I guess he didn't see that I wasn't finished! GUESS WHAT?!...  
_

"They're coming to New York?!" I shrieked happily, of course getting the entire classes attention, including Ms. Ayers. Trying to play it off like I didn't say anything I looked back at Mitchie's letter and kept reading, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

_Oh, wait...I guess he didn't want us to tell you guys yet just in case your teacher hadn't said anything yet...so don't say anything okay?_

Kind of late for the warning now, Mitchie.

The whole class started murmuring to each other and when I finally decided to look back up Ms. Ayers didn't seem all that impressed that I blew the surprise.

"Yes, that was the announcement I was supposed to make. Thank you, Alex, for sharing that with everyone a bit earlier than planned."

My cheeks went read as I smiled meekly at Ms. Ayers before getting back to reading the last little bit of Mitchie's letter while she talked.

"Your pen pals from Denver are going to be coming for a visit for two weeks during spring break, and if it's okay with your parents they'll be staying with you while they're here." Ms. Ayers announced. Everyone continued to talk to each other about Ms. Ayers' announcement (or was it mine since I kind of blew it?) and Ms. Ayers just left us to talk amongst ourselves. I knew we still had quite a while to wait, Spring break wasn't until mid-March and November was just coming to an end, but I was really excited to meet Mitchie.

Wait...I was actually going to meet Mitchie.

In person.

All of a sudden I let my nerves get the best of me. What if Mitchie and I didn't get along as well as we did in our letters? I mean, just because you get along through letters doesn't always mean you get along face to face. What if that was the case with us? Before I let myself get too carried away with all the things that I thought could go wrong I did my best to calm myself down and started working on a letter back to Mitchie.

_Hey, Mitchie._

_Geez, way to warn a girl!, I just totally blurted out that you guys were coming before Ms. A even got to say anything._

_I think she's a little pissed off that I ruined the surprise but oh well, we were going to find out anyways haha. I'm _

_really excited for you guys to get here in the spring. There's so much to do here so I think you'll really enjoy it. By_

_the way, what do you want to do while you're here? I know it's really early to ask but I'd much rather plan ahead _

_and have stuff for us to do rather than us being stuck in the apartment bored the whole two weeks. Like I said there's _

_tons of stuff to do here so we can try and do as much as you'd like._

_By the way, thanks for sending me a few of your songs. I can't wait to give them a listen later. And don't worry, you'll _

_be getting a full review in my next letter, since I know how important feedback is to you haha. And maybe you could help_

_me with my lyrics next? I haven't had someone help me with them in a while and I'm sure a soon-to-be worldwide _

_phenomenon like yourself would be able to give me a hand._

_I hope you guys have fun at the cabin. I wish we got to do stuff like that over winter break. Usually we just stay in New YoIrk _

_(which, admittedly, is really gorgeous during the winter with all the lights and decorations) and on Christmas we usually have _

_a few family and friends over for dinner. It's always a small get together, but I kind of like it that way, I don't like it when _

_there's a million and one people all crammed together. And I'm sorry your old friends are being jerks, but at least you'll_

_be getting away from them for a bit which will be really nice. _

_Hope this break goes by fast, it's gunna suck not being able to talk to you :(_

_Talk soon, Mitchie_

_Alex_

I went and grabbed an envelope from Ms. Ayers and as usual I drew Hermie on it (this time he was red with a purple nose and orange antennas) before handing it over to Ms. Ayers.

_*Present day*_

"And then what happened?" Emory asked. So far she hadn't spoken a single word since I began telling the story to her (which was about half an hour ago) so I was quite surprised when she finally spoke.

"Well, for the next few months until she came to visit we kept writing to each other, and we started to get to know each other a lot better and by the time she was getting ready to come to New York, we were pretty much the best of friends." I replied.

" Did you have flutterbies in your tummy when she came to visit?" Emory asked, and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Yes, I had lots of flutterbies in my tummy when she came to visit, but they were even worse the day before she got here..."

**Hey, guys, long time no see :). Hope y'all are having an awesome Halloween and I'm so sorry this took so long. I really had to concentrate on my midterms but now that they're over I can concentrate on writing a bit more now. So hopefully y'all enjoyed this chap, I know it's not much but I definitely wanted to get something up for you guys to read :)**

**R&R!**


	5. Update AN

**hey, guys :) long time, no see**

**Sorry I haven't updated in forever, school work became way more challenging than I expected it to be.**

**I really wanted to get a few chapters up while I'm back home on winter break but since my computer refuses to cooperate with our internet I'll just have to wait till I leave and have internet on my computer again(right now I'm having to use my phone to write and post this haha)**

**So, check on Jan 5th and there should be a new chapter up :)**

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!**

**MRA**


	6. If You Play Him One More Time,You're Out

**Chapter 4: If You Play Him One More Time, You're Out.**

*Mid-March, Alex P.O.V*

"Mom, is the spare room ready?" I asked.

"Honey, you've asked me that three times already. Yes, it's ready." Mom replied. I could tell she was getting annoyed with me but at that point I didn't really care. I just wanted everything to be perfect for when Mitchie got there later.

"How about you, are you ready to go yet?"

I looked down at my clothes and realized I was still in my pajama bottoms and t-shirt.

"Crap" I muttered as I ran back into my room to grab my towel and house coat.

"Hurry up, we only have an hour until we have to head to the school." I heard mom say while I ran into the bathroom and quickly turned on the shower. An hour wasn't a whole lot of time but hopefully I'd be able to at least make myself a bit presentable before we had to go. After taking a quick shower I ran back into my bedroom and started putting together my outfit. I told Mitchie that I'd be wearing my Paramore shirt from their "Brand New Eyes" Tour (aka the night I managed to meet my hero Hayley Williams which resulted in the greatest night of my life) so I tore through my dresser and threw it on along with a pair of dark skinny jeans and called it good. Since I now only had half an hour left it definitely wasn't enough time to blow dry AND straighten my hair so I just blow dried my hair really fast and threw it in a ponytail.

"Ready." I called out throwing my wallet and cell phone into my purse.

"Okay, let's get going we don't want to be late."

Mom and I said goodbye to dad and Max and headed out to the car.

"So are you and Mitchie going to stick around for lunch or you going to do a bit of sight-seeing?" mom asked on the drive to school.

"Uh, I guess we'll just see what she wants to do." I shrugged. I didn't know if Mitchie would be tired or not so if she wasn't up to walking around and seeing a few things I wouldn't force her and we could just sit at home and talk or watch movies. The drive to school wasn't t

*A few hours earlier, Mitchie P.O.V *

"Are you sure you have everything, honey?" my mom asked me from the bottom of the stairs as I shut my suitcase. Since my mom wasn't able to see me I was free to roll my eyes without her seeing me.

"Yep, checked several times." I replied. I took my suitcase off my bed and started rolling it down the hallway and down the stairs leading down to the front door.

"Just making sure sweetie, I don't want you forgetting something important." She said, clearly noticing my annoyed expression as I came down the stairs.

" I won't. I made sure to put everything that was really important in my suitcase earlier." I informed her, and with that she left me alone and I brought my bag out to the car. I ran inside to say goodbye to Brody then ran back out to the car where my parents and Maddie were waiting for me. The whole drive up to the airport my mom was listing off things she wanted to make sure I had and with every item I replied "yes" to the point where I was just saying "yes" so she would stop.

"Mitchie, are you even listening?" my mom asked.

"Yes." I replied, not paying attention to what she was saying and feeling like a broken record.

"Then what did I just say?" my mom asked.

"Yes." I repeated.

"Michelle Elise…" I heard my full name and finally snapped out of my trance.

"Sorry." I was quick to apologize. My mom wasn't a huge fan of me tuning her out when it came to something "important".

"What did you say?"

"I asked you if you were listening but I guess I just got my answer." My mom replied. Thankfully she didn't start listing things off again and for the rest of the car ride was fairly quiet until we got to the airport. When we pulled in most of my class was waiting for me outside (I was apparently one of the last people to get there) and when I got out of the truck Everyone crowded around, mostly wanting me to hurry up so we could finally head through security.

"Okay, have a good trip, honey." Dad said taking my suitcase out from the backseat of the truck and handing it to me.

"I will, love you." I replied, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye, Mitch." Maddie said, wrapping me in a hug.

"later, Maddie. Don't drive mom and dad nuts while I'm gone." I told her, ruffling her hair(which I knew she hated, but I did it anyways.

"Call us the second you land, I wanna make sure you make it there in once piece." Mom told me and I just rolled my eyes as I gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek too before saying one last goodbye and heading off with my class. We made it through security with minimal issues (a few people got stopped for little things that they didn't realize would set the detector off) and after half an hour or so of waiting we were on the plane.

"Okay, 13B...13B..." I was looking for my seat and when I finally got to it, who else be sitting there but Devin. Apparently I didn't hide my disappointment very well because Devin just gave a chuckle.

"Geez, don't look so excited, Mitch." Devin commented almost bitterly.

"Whatever, let's just get through this without me wanting to punch you in the face and we'll be just fine." I said, taking my seat and putting my headphones in, hoping that the flight would go by as quickly as possible.

Alex P.O.V

The bus was honestly taking forever! We had been waiting 15 minutes and there was still no sign of anyone coming.

"Where the heck are they?" I wondered out loud.

"Maybe their flight was a little late." mom replied. Just as she said that the large yellow bus came around the corner and parked in front of the school.

"It's them!" I exclaimed, not even caring to tone down my excitement. One by one the kids came off the bus and I kept searching for Mitchie(granted I didn't know what she looked like but still).

"Alex?" I heard a girl calling my name as soon as she stepped off the bus. When I looked at who was calling me I honestly had my breath taken away for a second. She was dressed in skinny jeans along with a "The Cure" Band tee which was under a red plaid shirt. And even with her hair in just a simple ponytail, she still looked beautiful.

"Over here!" I managed to get out, and right away she looked my way and gave this huge ear-to-ear smile as she walked over to us.

"Hey!" she smiled, bringing me into a hug almost instantly.

"Hi." I giggled, and almost instantly she pulled away.

"Sorry." She apologized with a slight blush, probably thinking the hug was too much for meeting someone for the first time.

"Hey, it's no big deal. Mitchie, this is my mom, Theresa. Mom, this is Mitchie." I introduced.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mitchie." My mom smiled, shaking Mitchie's hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Russo." Mitchie replied.

"Please, call me Theresa. So how about we grab your things and we can head back to the house?" Mom suggested.

"Sure, I think they're going to start unloading our stuff soon."

We went over to the bus and it looked like the bus driver was just starting to unload the bags.

"See yours?" I asked.

"Uh.." Mitchie stood on her tippy toes, trying her best to look into the back of the bus over the crowd of people.

"I think I see it, it's that red and black one." She pointed to a fair sized suitcase still sitting on the back chair of the bus. Thankfully the bus driver heard her and grabbed her bag next so we could get going.

"Thanks." Mitchie said as she grabbed her suitcase handle and after a quick talk with her teacher we made our way to the car.

"Did you want to do some sight-seeing right away or just want to chill at my place?" I asked.

"Uh... I think probably just stay at your place. Be better to get some of the sight-seeing done tomorrow." Mitchie replied.

"Okay. I'll make us something to eat when we get to the house." I told her.

"I could make you girls something if you'd like, Alex." Mom offered.

"It's okay, I think I can handle it." I told her. We got home a few minutes later and right away we cut through the sub shop and introduced Mitchie to my dad and Max(who asked If Mitchie was the replacement for Justin he was never told about) then we headed upstairs to put Mitchie's bags into her room.

"So this is the spare room. It used to be Justin's but we changed it over to the spare room whenever he's not visiting from college." I told her.

"I like it, it's cute." Mitchie smiled.

"Yeah, definitely a step up from the captain Jim Bob decor that used to be in here." I laughed.

"Captain Jim Bob? Isn't that show for little kids?" Mitchie giggled.

"Got me, I just knew it was something I could make fun of Justin for." I admitted.

"You're such a great sister." Mitchie commented.

"Aren't I though?" I asked, receiving an eye roll from Mitchie.

"Come on, leave your stuff here and I'll start lunch."

I headed into the kitchen and started grabbing stuff for baked mac and cheese out of the pantry and fridge. It may not be the most extravagant welcome lunch, but I was always asked to make it cause apparently it was the best.

"Mind filling this with water for me?" I asked, handing her the pot I had just grabbed.

"Sure." Mitchie replied and while she filled up the pot I started grating the cheese. Once the noodles were cooking I started the sauce.

"The key is to make it really, really cheesy. It tastes a million times better that way." I told her adding more cheese into the pot. Finally the noodles were done and I strained them then poured the cheese sauce all over it.

"That actually looks really good." Mitchie admitted.

"It tastes even better." I informed her, placing the macaroni into a roasting pan and spreading some shredded cheese over it before tossing it into the oven.

"So, what did you want to see tomorrow?" I asked.

"Well I really want to go to Central Park, and other than that I'm not sure, whatever you think is interesting." Mitchie replied.

"I'm not exactly sure what's near here."

"Okay, well we can just walk around and if there's anything you wanna go see, we can stop by and take a look." I told her. While we were waiting for the Macaroni to be done I was amazed at how easy it was to be around Mitchie. I mean, really we had just met face to face, I expected it to be a little awkward but so far it was like we had known each other since we were little kids or something. After about 15 minutes the timer went out and I took the baked Mac and Cheese out of the oven.

"Okay, try this." I told her placing a square of baked Mac and cheese onto a plate and handing it to her. While she took a bite I grabbed a plate for myself and some.

"Oh my god, this is amazing!" Mitchie exclaimed

"Told ya." I grinned.

"Whatever, show off." Mitchie said, sticking her tongue out at me like a little kid.

"Oh, real mature. And you can't even say anything; you told me yourself it was amazing." I reminded her.

"Again, whatever." She said, and I just rolled my eyes as we both finished what we had left and went back for seconds before calling it quits.

"Girls, I'm heading out to the store, if you need anything your dad's just downstairs Alex." Mom came up and said.

"Okay, see ya, mom!" I called out from the couch, both Mitchie and I were too full to even think about moving.

"My stomach hurts to degrees it never has before." Mitchie informed me, rolling over to her side.

"Don't worry, that'll pass in a little while." I assured her.

"How long's a little while?" she asked.

"Dinner."

"Great."

* * *

For the rest of the day Mitchie and I just relaxed for the most part. We went downstairs to see what dad and Max were up to in the shop but that didn't last too long and we ended up in my room watching movies until dinner. After we had dinner Mitchie and I decided to start watching a few episodes of "The Hills then just veg out and talk. Before either of us knew it it was nearing 11:30 and Mitchie kept passing out on my bed.

"Okay, I'm going to head to bed, so, night." Mitchie said, gathering enough energy to actually get up and head to the room next to mine.

"Okay, night." I replied, when I waved I accidentally caught my headphones on my shirt sleeve and unplugged them from my computer.

_...Wanna wrap you up_

_Wanna kiss your lips, I_

_Wanna make you feel wanted_

_I wanna call you mine_

_Wanna hold your hand forever_

_Never let you forget it_

_Cause baby, I_

_Wanna make you feel wanted..._

"Are you seriously listening to Hunter Hayes?" Mitchie asked, I looked up from my computer and nodded, instantly noticing the look of displeasure on her face.

"See this?" she asked pointing to her eyes.

" This is me...staring into your soul."

I couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"Why do you listen to him?!"

"Well my friend Harper used to listen to him and lately he's been stuck in my head so I figured I'd get a few of his songs. Got a problem with that?" I asked smugly

"Yes, I can't trust you anymore." Mitchie replied almost flatly.

"Why? It's just three of his songs." I told her.

"No, I still can't trust you, Satan has possessed you." Mitchie replied.

"Okay, how about this, I listen to this song once and no more Hunter the entire time you're here." I bargained.

"Fine...but if I hear him playing one more time, you're out." Mitchie replied.

"Alright." I said jokingly rolled my eyes as she left to head to her room. Just after she left a thought came to mind.

"Wait... how am I out? this is _my_ house!"

**I know I said this would be us yesterday, shun me all you want, I deserve it. Hope y'all are happy they finally got to meet and I'll admit I'm not 100% sure when I'll be able to post another chapter, but I promise since classes are starting up again tomorrow, I'll try to do it soon. **

**R&R :)**


	7. A quick note for y'all

**Hey, y'all :/**

**So, I really wish I had the time to be able to write new chapters and stuff right now, but with 3 English classes this semester my focus has been on school and making sure I stay on top of my assignments. So for now, I probably won't be able to update until sometime in April so I can focus on my stories and make them the best they can be, I don't want to give you guys half-assed chapters, you deserve more that since y'all are amazing.**

**I really don't want to do this, but I think it'd be more unfair to leave you guys hanging and wondering why there hasn't been a new chapter in forever and a half.**

**thank y'all so much for understanding, wish me luck with the rest of this semester! **

**MRA 3**


	8. Penguins & Dolphins & Starfish Oh My!

**Chapter 5: Penguins, and Dolphins and Starfish Oh My!**

"Lex, come on, wake up," I whined. I had been trying to get Alex up for the last 10 minutes so we could start our day of sight-seeing around New York but Alex hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. Since Theresa and Jerry were down in the shop and Max was at a friend's house, it was just Alex and I alone in the apartment.

"Mmmpphhh." Was all that I was able to hear when Alex mumbled through the pillow that was covering her head. I rolled my eyes and tip toed back to the guest room and looked through my ITunes to find a death metal song (not that I ever liked death metal, but I never knew what to expect when I swapped music with my friends). By chance I found a good song to use and I tip toed back into Alex's room and turned my volume up full blast before pressing play, waking Alex up and nearly sending her off the bed as she jumped and shrieked.

"Morning, sunshine!" I yelled over the music, sporting the most obnoxious grin I could on my face.

"Jesus Christ, Mitch, you almost gave me a heart attack!" Alex exclaimed. I pressed pause on the computer and the music came to an end.

"Well I tried waking you up gently, but it didn't work." I said, closing the lid of my laptop.

"So now that you're up, let's get this day started."

I bounced out of the room and Alex slowly but surely made her way out of bed.

"So, you up for trying another Alex Russo recipe?" Alex asked, starting the coffee machine and gathering supplies for whatever she had planned for breakfast from the fridge and cupboard.

"Depends, what is it?" I asked.

"Well, I call it breakfast poutine." Alex replied.

"It's hash browns topped with scrambled eggs, cheese and hollandaise sauce."

"How on earth did you come up with that?" I asked.

"I don't know, I like experimenting with foods." Alex replied.

"Well, it sounds good so I'm in." I said.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Sure, wanna handle the scrambled eggs?"

I nodded and we got to work, knowing that it could take a while before the food would even be close to ready. While I handled the eggs and hollandaise sauce, Alex cooked the hash browns and grated the cheese while she waited. About half an hour later everything was done and Alex quickly threw everything together into two separate bowls for her and me.

"What do you think?" Alex asked.

"This is amazing!" I told her.

"You may need to come home with me and be my personal chef."

Alex giggled at my comment, taking another forkful of her poutine. Trying to avoid cleaning up as much as possible, we slowly ate our breakfast and talked about our plans for the day.

"...and after that we could maybe hit a movie tonight."

"Sounds good to me" I agree, taking my last bite of my breakfast poutine and throwing my bowl into the dishwasher. So far we had decided to spend the day at the New York Aquarium, then if we had time we'd go to the mall for a bit before heading to a movie and coming back to the apartment.

"Okay, well let's aim to leave around 11, that way we get there just in time for lunch." Alex suggested and with that we quickly cleaned up from breakfast and started to get ready to go. I decided to leave my hair curly and wear my dark skinny jeans with just a plain white tank top and my red and black plaid shirt over it.

"Ready to go?" Alex knocked on my door and asked. Alex was also wearing skinny jeans but was wearing a white blouse underneath her white cardigan.

"Yeah, just need to grab my bag." I replied. Grabbing my bag from the edge of the bed and a jacket for just in case Alex and I said a quick goodbye to her parents and let them know where we were going before heading out and catching the subway to Brooklyn. The subway stop wasn't too far away from the Aquarium so we only had to walk about 15 minutes or so before we got to the entrance.

"Okay, what should we go see first?" Alex asked once we had paid and made our way in.

"Uh, well what is there?"

"I don't know, let's see." Alex replied and took a map and info packet from the display near the entrance.

"We got belugas, otters, seals, dolphins, pen...penguins!" Alex exclaimed.

"It's settled, we're going to the penguins"

Next thing I knew I was being drug to the penguin exhibit by an extremely excited Alex (which is adorable for those who haven't seen her excited).

"Do you even know where it is?" I asked her as we kept running past various exhibits.

"Yeah, just follow the map!" Alex said as we continued to run.

"Whatever you say, Dora." I replied.

"I'm going to choose to ignore that." Alex said and we continued to maneuver through the crowds of people. As we ran I looked and noticed Alex was holding the map upside down.

"Alex, the map is upside down, we're going the wrong way." I told her.

"Oh...Okay, it's the _other_ this way!"

Quickly turning around we started heading back and eventually started going the right way.

"Okay, it should be right around...here!" Alex said and we stopped dead in our tracks right across from our destination.

"They're so cute!" Alex exclaimed and I swear her face lit up brighter than a 5 year old on Christmas morning. We watched the penguins swim around and waddle around for probably about 10 minutes or so (also taking videos and pictures while we did so) before the person in charge of the penguins called Alex's name.

"Collin!" Alex called out and waved over to the sandy brown haired guy across from us.

"You know him?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's my friend Michael's older brother." Alex replied. Collin waved us over and we made our way to the door where Collin was waiting for us.

"Hey, Russo, long time no see." Collin smiled.

"Yeah, it's been a while. I didn't know you worked here." Alex said.

"Yeah, been working here for just a couple of months. Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Mitchie. She's my pen pal from Colorado who's visiting over spring break." Alex replied and I shook Collins hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mitchie."

"You too." I smiled.

"So, you guys wanna come in and see the Penguins?" he asked and before I even had a chance to say anything Alex nodded and we were being brought down this small hallway and into the opening of the penguin habitat.

"Just a second, I'll be right back." Collin told us and we stood there a for a few minutes until he came back with one of the penguins waddling close beside him.

"This is Mumble." Collin said as the tiny penguin came near us.

"He's so cute!" Alex gushed and kneeled down so she could pet him. She was so excited over Mumble all I could do was just giggle.

"Come on Mitch, he's not going to bite...I think." Alex said and I rolled my eyes and kneeled down beside Alex and pet Mumble.

"Can you get in trouble for letting us back here?" I asked.

"I don't think so, as long as it's people I know it's fine." Collin replied. We stayed for a couple more minutes and got to feed the penguins (and take some pictures) before saying goodbye to Collin and heading around the rest of the aquarium.

"Okay, I say let's go watch the dolphin show. According to this it's starting in like 10 minutes." Alex said and we made our way over to the Dolphin show(I took over the map reading since Alex had us almost go in the wrong direction again) which had just started by the time we had gotten there. We found a small spot on the bridge and watched the show from there and I have to say some of the tricks the dolphins were doing were really cool. They did flips, spins, a little dance that the trainers had taught them and even waved to the crowd by using their tails. The show ended after about 20 minutes and we made our way into the room with all the huge tanks.

"Look, a sea turtle." Alex pointed out and sure enough there was a sea turtle in the large tank behind me.

"Haha, that's so cool...Oh my god Alex, a shark!" I exclaimed and Alex nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Where?!" she yelped and all I could do was laugh as she realized I meant in the tank.

"You jerk, you scared me half to death!" Alex whined while playfully hitting me on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry but I just had to." I laughed. Alex gave me a pout and I couldn't help but melt.

"Alright I'm sorry. I promise I won't do that again."

"Thank you." Alex said and we continued looking around. While I was looking at a few of the fish I heard a familiar voice break through the crowd. I looked to my left and sure enough Devin and who I assumed was his pen pal were probably about 20 feet away from us. I did my best to make myself not get noticed but obviously my plan didn't work since he came up right beside me. My next plan was to start talking to Alex but she was so interested in the exhibit I didn't want to disturb her.

"You know, I always liked starfish." Devin randomly said as he came up right beside me. I knew he was trying to be nice and start some small talk with me but I wasn't letting him get off that easy. Not after the last time we talked and he tried yet again to convince me to go to some house party that someone I didn't even know was having. That time we actually got into the worst fight we've ever gotten into and I didn't particularly want to talk to him.

"I can see why." I replied, pretending to be interested in what he was saying.

"Really?"

"Yeah, did you know Starfish don't have any brains?" I asked.

"Thought you might since you sometimes seem to have that in common."

I could hear Alex fighting back laughter behind me and after giving Devin my best "get the hell away from me" look, he decided to back off and headed off to another exhibit with his Pen Pal.

"Not that that wasn't hilarious as hell, but wasn't that a little harsh?" Alex asked.

"Not when it's douche bag Devin." I replied.

"So that's Devin." Alex said, taking a look back at Devin who had gone back to look at the Sea Otter Exhibit again.

"Yeah. Wanna go check out another exhibit?" I asked and thankfully Alex nodded and we headed over to the Sea Lions.

"What did they do that made you dislike them so much? If you don't mind me asking." Alex asked, looking at the exhibit in front of us.

"It's a long story." I replied, not really wanting to get into everything when we were supposed to be enjoying ourselves. As comfortable as I was with telling Alex things I hadn't opened up completely about the whole Skylar situation with her, it wasn't exactly something I was proud of.

"We got time." Alex replied, and I took a deep breath before looking at Alex.

"Can it wait? Maybe we can talk about it later when we're home." I suggested and Alex contemplated my offer for a moment before agreeing. For the next hour or two we walked through the entire aquarium and looked at as many exhibits as we could before taking a quick break for food and making our way back to Alex's place. We had walked around so much we were a bit more tired than anticipated so we opted on skipping the movie we had planned to see and just went to the mall for a little while instead.

"Where do you wanna look first?" Alex asked.

"They've pretty got every teen clothing store known to man here so I'm sure we could find something."

"Do they have an Urban Outfitters? That's usually where I get my stuff." I replied.

"Yeah, I think it's on the next floor up."

Taking the escalator we went up to the next floor and found the Urban Outfitters, which had a way better selection than the Urban Outfitters at home. It didn't take long for both Alex and I to load up on clothes and eventually we had to stop ourselves before we bought out the entire store. We stopped by a few more stores along the way but we mostly did some window shopping since we spent most of our money right off the bat. By around 6:30 we decided we'd finally head home and after catching the bus we got back to Alex's apartment just before 7:00.

"Hey, girls. Have a good day?" Theresa asked us the second we got through the door.

"Yeah, it was great." I replied.

"Not only did we get to pet some penguins, we bought out the Urban Outfitters at the mall too."

"Well I'm glad you girls had fun. There's some lasagna and garlic bread left over if you're hungry. We just finished so it should still be nice and hot." Theresa told us and after dumping our bags in our bedrooms we each grabbed a plate of food before retreating to Alex's room. We mostly talked about the day while we ate, and at one point looked over the pictures we had taken and swapped a few, then in the midst of looking over the pictures Alex decided to bring up what I had said to Devin again.

"So, you never told me what that whole thing with Devin was about." Alex reminded me.

"Mind sharing with me now?"

**Hello my lovely readers! I'm so sorry I made you guys wait this long for a chapter! I feel horrible and I swear I'll be updating a lot more over the next few months! I hope you guys enjoyed this chap and I'm sorry if it's kind of lame for the first chapter back since forever ago haha. **

**R&R!**


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